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You’re security conscious and have a CCW. You can’t carry at work and come home unarmed. Arriving home you find yourself surrounded by 20 to 30 “youths” from the local community center playing dice in your back alley. The precious little flowers.

You ask them to leave and they begin assaulting you, throwing rocks at you and poking you with sticks. What do you do? How will the cliffhanger end? Read the story here:

This rioting started when a man, Michael Brown, was shot by a police officer. Here’s my take on all this:

1. This “kid” is a huge trouble maker and a aggressive criminal as seen in a surveillance video. This isn’t some innocent law-abiding “kid.”
2. Police didn’t enforce the law against looters. They didn’t protect stores because they didn’t want to “inflame” the situation. Be prepared to defend yourself if situations get really bad.
3. The police officer who did his job is being harassed. This is a risk for anybody in law enforcement or anybody who fights crime.
4. City will likely pay a ton of money to the family of this criminal just to make the situation go away.
5. Even if he put his “hands up” once aggression has started and you’re defending yourself many of us have been taught to keep shooting until the attacker goes down. This is something people not trained in combat don’t understand.
6. If I was the shop owner in the above video, I’d have kicked the big bully in the nats when he pushed me. A good front kick is a nice thing to have in your skill set. Kudos to the shop owner for standing up to such a bigger robber. That took guts. It’s not what were told to do from a safety standpoint. Still respect.
7. DAMN. I just sold my last “assault rifle.” Preppers should own a fighting rifle. Against an aggressive crowd, I’d much rather have an autoloading rifle than a shotgun.

8. Choose where you live carefully. It’s best not to live near stores that could become the targets of looting.

This is true if you face a large mob in complete chaos. Thoughtfullyprepping is correct. In the country, you can use distance to create a “barrier” between you and your attackers. Open ground is the best. Open ground is an odd sounding “barrier” but it works.

If you’re a great rifle shot and those attacking you aren’t, you have a chance to keep them at bay. Many shooters aiming at you from 150 meters could get you, but you’re much better off than being taken on up close by superior numbers.

This assumes you’re a better shot than those trying to take you out. A professional sniper can hit you in the head from 500 yards out. If you’re up against those guys, you’ve got trouble.

Any kid who’s watched old westerns knows you’re safe at day! It’s at night when they’ll come for you. You won’t see them. You can’t shoot what you can’t see. That’s offset somewhat if you have night vision capability. John Wayne would have been a real bad-*** with a night scope on his 44-40.

You need enough numbers so some can sleep while others keep watch. From an attacker’s standpoint, waiting till your target falls asleep isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He could just be waiting for you to crawl a few more yards forward before he shoots you. “Yeah. He’s fallen asleep. Sweet.” Bang.

In the military, there are many ways to discourage opposing soldiers from wanting to come at you through open ground. Barbed wire, claymore landmines. Anything that slows the attackers down or thins the herd helps.

In the city, this all falls apart. I’ve said exactly this in my book. In the city, one guy with a good arm can hit your home with a Molotov cocktail. Regardless of how you fortify your dwelling, attackers can burn you out. Thoughtfullyprepping makes this exact point. Toast is a good word!

There is one thing you could hope for and that’s a community response. If citizens came together to protect their homes, you could create a defensive perimeter. You’d keep the bad guys out of your neighborhood.

This could fall apart for many reasons. Are your neighbor’s dead because they starved? Did they flee because there wasn’t any food? Are they willing to work together or have they turned on each other as each tries to provide for his family?

As a small group of neighbors, I like the term defensive perimeter more than perimeter defense. What is a realistic area you can control? A block? Four Blocks? That only offers a bit of a buffer.

For most of us most of the time, as homeowners, we think of our perimeter as our walls or maybe a fence. We can’t keep out a mob intent on killing us. We can highly discourage the typical small gang of robbers or looters.

The mystery of why Aaron Hernandez went ballistic is solved. He felt he was being “disrespected” after a guy spilled a drink on him. Decided to shoot the guy full of bullet holes. Now he’ll spend life in prison.

“Disrespected.” This is the exact street lingo I use in the book to explain the origin of most violent assaults and homicides. Contrary to popular opinion most violence doesn’t involve attacks for money. It starts with an argument. A disagreement. One person feels slighted, put upon, or in today’s terms “disrespected.” The argument turns into a physical confrontation. The confrontation escalates to aggravated assault or homicide.

As preppers we should know a thing or two about being disrespected. Act like a gentleman. Don’t be disrespecting others. For those with combat training or carrying a concealed weapon, it’s especially important to avoid needless conflict.

Go out of your way to accommodate the other guy. Can you easily “win” the confrontation? Yes. Can you wind up in prison if you “win”? Yes.

Don’t be hyper vigilant about protecting your “rights.” If a moron tries to cut you off in traffic, let him in. Be happy. Don’t give the idiot the finger.

Now we won’t relinquish all our legitimate rights to somebody intent on violating them. If somebody breaks in my house and threatens my family then shooting them in the face is a great option. But don’t get all bent out of shape over somebody infringing some tiny thing. It’s not worth the possible consequences.

I know. You hate bullies. You want to stand up for what’s right and tell some moron loud mouth off. It’s just not worth it. Too many unbalanced people in the world. Can’t beat them all up, tell them all off, or shoot them all. Don’t create your own problems.

Why do so many street toughs take being “disrespected” so aggressively? It’s their ego. In their eyes, their street reputation is the thing they value. They don’t usually have much else going positive for them in their life. The words of a stranger affects them.

On the other side of the coin, you’re much less likely to get drawn into a conflict like this if you have a sense of tranquility and peace in your life. The words of some idiot won’t affect you as deeply. Strive to build this inner peace.

Many agree with the verdict but have little sympathy for burglars. The jury looked at these factors:

1) Smith recorded the incident. He recorded a lengthy conversation with himself after the shooting. He talked freely with police after the incident. These conversations raised serious doubt that he used reasonable force.

Smith said this:
“I refuse to live in fear. I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I have a civic duty. I have to do it. Burglars are not human, they are vermin. I try to be a good person, to do what I should, be a good citizen.”

I don’t like criminals but I’d stop short of calling a person vermin. I’m not sure how I’d decide if I were on the jury. I didn’t listen to the tape. He does have a point. Not for a burglar but what if a serial rapist breaks into your home? If you apprehend him and in three years he’s out and he attacks and murders somebody, do you have a degree of responsibility?

One of the most balanced, sane, and respectable experts in self defense, Massad Ayoob, in his book “The Truth About Self Defense,” talks about meeting a deranged killer in prison. If memory serves, Ayoob said if this fellow ever showed up in his home, he’d shoot him dead for sure. Knowing the guy’s behavior, he’d know this guy would harm innocent people as long as he could. Most “normal” people lack experience with this kind of psycho.

One person I know thinks Smith could have PTSD from Vietnam and his role as an embassy guard. It makes sense. If he worried 3 or 4 violent gang bangers would break into his home some night and he’d wake to a knife being plunged into him, a first response of somebody with that background could well be to set up the confrontation so he’d be prepared. He’d want to engage on his terms. It’s cliched, but the best defense is a good offense.

The lesson for preppers: Use all due restraint when defending yourself. If forced to use lethal force, get an attorney immediately before you say anything. Call police immediately.

One anti-gun post attacking Smith said that any homeowner who owns a gun and doesn’t have good locks is guilty of this “ambush and execution.” That’s crap. If you only have so much money, a gun is a great defense tool.

I do recommend having great locks. But even with them Smith lived alone and was elderly. Would he hear an intruder before it was too late?